Entering the 2024 season with just one more year on his contract, it was looking like Cameron Heyward may have needed to either leave Pittsburgh or hang up his cleats after the 2024 season if he wasn’t offered an extension. If he played just one more season, his Hall of Fame resume would have been incomplete at best, but his new three-year deal with the Steelers gives him an excellent shot of immortalizing his legacy in the Hall of Fame.
First, let’s look at his current resume and accomplishments over the 13 years he has played so far.
Heyward has played in 194 games with 159 starts. Over that time, he has registered 647 total tackles, 404 solo tackles, 121 tackles for loss, 80.5 sacks, 179 QB hits, 47 passes defensed, eight forced fumbles, and two interceptions.
He was a Pro Bowler for six straight years from 2017 to 2022, a first-team All-Pro in 2017, 2019, and 2021, and a second-team All-Pro in 2020.
In eight playoff appearances, Heyward started seven times, and his overall record in those games was 1-7. He added another 19 total tackles, 14 solo tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, two forced fumbles, one pass defensed, and six QB hits in those games.
Pro Football Reference is a great tool that combines all stats and accomplishments into a composite score, and Heyward currently has a score of 62.95. The “average” Hall of Fame player at his position has a score of 102. That may sound daunting, but there are actually a handful of players near him on the list who are already in and well below that average.
With three more years to play, even with a little regression in his production, he should end up somewhere in between Geno Atkins and Haloti Ngata. Neither player is in Canton yet, but both have a shot somewhere down the line.
Alex Kozora wrote in May that the magic number for Heyward to get into the Hall of Fame is 90. That, of course, being 90 sacks. He currently has 80.5 sacks, which gives him three seasons to get 9.5 more to hit the number. Most players at his position to hit that number are either in the Hall of Fame or are not yet eligible.
Heyward only had two sacks last season, but he missed six games and was playing injured even when he returned. He had double-digit sacks in 2021 and 2022 while healthy for 17 games. Despite his injury, Heyward still showed significant power in his game and held up well against the run. I would be very surprised if he doesn’t reach the 90-sack mark over the next three seasons. He should easily pass it. Getting 13 more sacks would place him in the top-10 of his position all-time.
He also checked off another notable box at the end of last season when he was named the Walter Payton Man of the Year, which can only help his chances in the eyes of the voters.
Heyward will likely not be a first-ballot guy. Still, these three additional years with the Steelers give him a great chance of eventually having his legacy cemented in Canton forever.
